Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The adequacy of social welfare payments will always be questioned. We have always tried to maintain the basic rate of payment at 35% to 37% of the average industrial wage and we succeeded in doing that again this year. Obviously, it was not possible to be as generous in the budget package this year as in previous years but we provided for a 3.3% increase which we anticipated would match inflation for next year. It will probably be far more than inflation and some people are even predicting there might be deflation next year. Within that budget we had to target the people who needed the help most. The increase of €7 in many of the payments was widely welcomed.

The mortgage interest supplement has been, until this year, a little known and little used welfare payment. There are 7,000 people currently in receipt of mortgage interest supplement, an increase of 70% on this time last year. It demonstrates the need for the payment. The estimate for this year is approximately €26 million. There is a higher estimate for next year but I am not sure that it will be sufficient to meet demand. People who are having difficulty with their mortgage payments should go to their financial institution and reschedule their payments. Unfortunately, many people put the matter to one side, let the problem run and do not deal with it. The advice from the money advice and budgeting service is that people should deal with the issue immediately by going to their financial institution to discuss restructuring. The mainstream financial institutions are willing to do that.

Last year there was a total of 50 repossessions of houses by the banks. Obviously, there is an increase in repossessions but some of them appear to be by sub-prime lenders rather than the financial institutions governed by the Banking Federation code. Again, I urge the banks to be flexible and understanding with people. The banks will be unable to sell the house anyway and the people will end up losing their home, living on rent supplement, going on the RAS scheme and getting a social house. At the end of the day the State pays everywhere and the bank will be left with a house it cannot sell. The mortgage interest supplement scheme is available to help people in paying their mortgage interest.

Other issues are dealt with in the amendment. I am aware the mechanism in the amendment is used by Senators to raise these issues because it is difficult to put down an amendment on a social welfare Bill that might impose a cost on the Exchequer. However, constant reviews are carried out on some of the major payments. Different payments are reviewed every year to ensure we are meeting the requirements of those most in need. We will continue to do that.